


Take a Byte

by seventhTense



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Bonding, Cooking, Dumb Competitions, Food, M/M, Shuake Competitive Flirting Festival 2021, Teasing, Valentine's Day 2021 fic, one-upsmanship, venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29466441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhTense/pseuds/seventhTense
Summary: Akira runs into Goro on his way home one day, and an impulsive, agressive move on Goro's part sets off a fierce competition between the two boys. As the summer rolls on, their fight rages, growing ever wilder, ever fiercer, evertendereras each gives every last ounce of strength they've got to determine, once and for all......which of them can steal food from the other in the most outrageously flirty way....god these boys are so dumb sometimes.
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 7
Kudos: 107





	Take a Byte

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! Only big TW for this fic, if it wasn't apparent from the summary and tags is Food! There's a lot of food talk and talk about eating and biting and teeth and all that jazz, so if that weirds you out for some reason, be warned!
> 
> Enjoy the nonsense!

It had been some time since Akira had gotten a box of Pocky on his way home from school. After the assault case and during his first few months here in Tokyo, he had always been too nervous, irrationally worrying that some beat cop with a bad attitude would toss him in a cell for eating in public, or some nonsense.

But before his life had taken such a drastic turn, he used to enjoy snacking on the crunchy, sweet things all the time; a pleasant way to while away the hour or so it took to walk back home from his old school. Today, Akira was in need of some of that comfort; school had been terrible, another bruise forming on his forehead after he zoned out for a bit and that shitty math teacher hurled a stick of chalk at his forehead.

Rumors were starting to pick up around him too- well, they had been since he got to Tokyo, but these were new.This time people were whispering that he was a deviant playboy, twisting the heartstrings of innocent boys and girls throughout Tokyo around his devilish fingers, or some bullshit like that. Add in a dumb argument with Ryuji and the constant, tense anticipation radiating off of all of the Thieves as they waited for news of Kaneshiro's change of heart, and by the time the last bell of the day rang, Akira was just a grumpy, taunt ball of stress.

Thus, the Pocky. Way too tired and annoyed to worry about what anybody around him thought, he leaned down and tugged another stick out from the packaging with his teeth- then had to clamp his lips around it as the train he was riding came to a juttering halt.

Cursing internally, Akira stuffed the box back into his pocket and stood up, mindful at the very least to be gentle with the Monabag as he exited the train and started navigating the labyrinthine hell that was Shibuya Station-

"Oh, Kurusu!" A chipper voice called out, stopping Akira in his tracks just a handful of steps away from the train. "What a surprise to run into you here- a pleasant one, of course."

He turned, and sure enough, the handsome, charming face of Goro Akechi was walking towards him. Wait, not walking, he was almost jogging...

On second look, Akechi looked pretty worn-out himself- still handsome and charming, he still had his trademark Detective Prince smile on full blast, but Akira had been working as hard as he could over the past month to learn how to read past Akechi's outwards expressions, to Uncover The Truth Beneath The Smile, as Akechi himself would no doubt cheesily phrase it. Akechi looked _tired_ , his charming mask much less tightly-glued-on than usual, more and more traces of weariness slipping through the cracks as Akira looked.

It took another second of observation and worrying for Akira to realize he hadn't responded to Akechi's greeting, and he gave the detective a small nod, a soft "Hey."

Akechi seemed to grow a bit more lively, a bit brighter at that, for some reason- or at least he did for a moment, before his eyes darted towards the train that Akira had just left. "Ah, I'm afraid I can't stay for long, I can't afford to miss this train..." He looked genuinely sad about that, and in a cruel kind of way, Akira wished he got to see Akechi this drained and exhausted more often, if it meant more of these honest expressions would slip out. The feelings that came from Akechi's heart were so obviously, drastically different than the polite or charming ones he chose to put on; his whole face shifted and contorted with the regret he felt, his forehead wrinkled, his eyes grew sharp and shadowed, the corners of his mouth pulled back harshly, bearing just a slightest glimpse of his perfect white teeth. Handsome, as always, but with an incredibly emotive rawness that Akira had never encountered anywhere before in his life.

Not for the first time, even just this brief glimpse of his rival's true, harsh beauty set Akira reeling.

Akechi let out a huff of a sigh, then turned back to Akira, instantly wiping away all traces of any negative emotion from his expression- though he still looked pretty tired, there wasn't anything he could do about that. The detective's eyes slipped to the pocky that was still hanging from Akira's lips, and idly, Akechi commented, "Ah, Pocky... it's been some time since I've had one of those, though they are one of my favorite sweets." His eyes flicked back to meet Akira's, and he put on a sloppy rendition of the Endearingly Bashful mask Akira had seen him wear in recordings of his interviews. "I'm actually quite hungry- I'd love to have one."

Well, it wasn't like Akira could say no to that- not that he would anyways, but still, it irked Akira just a little, how entitled and demanding Akechi could sometimes get. A little sadistic too- the detective's eyes took on a new sharpness, clearly noticing Akira's irritation.

But, again, refusing him would be way ruder than Akira was willing to be, and it was just one pocky. Sighing a little, he reached into his pocket, pulled the box back out again-

"Oh." After peeking inside, he tipped the package towards Akechi, so he could see. "Guess this was the last one. Sorry." There was a bit of a smug edge to his apology, just a little spilling into his tone- a much larger wave of it rolling about inside him. _Just deserts,_ _Akechi-kun_ _~_

Again, the charm vanished from Akechi's face, replaced by open annoyance in an instant, and the detective let out a punkish little _tsk_. His gaze flicked from the empty box back to the pocky sticking out of Akira's lips, bobbing a little as Akira tried even harder to hide the smirk that was threatening to spill out. Akechi's expression grew more annoyed, something flashed in his eyes- Akira swallowed, suddenly incredibly nervous for some r-

Almost quicker than Akira could follow, Akechi jerked forward and snapped his teeth down on the other end of Akira's pocky, snapping it off with the same force and ferocity as a wolf snapping through bone.

Akira felt his eyes go wide- then wider still when his gaze met Akechi's, and saw the almost primal look in them. His eyes were radiating dominance, aggressive at first, then, when he took the surprise and fear in Akira's eyes, openly taunting. Hyper-confident, the look of an apex predator toying with a bunny.

A flash of white, and Akechi took another bite- then another- then another, the fire in his eyes burning brighter and wilder the closer the flash of his teeth got to Akira's lips, the inferno too intense for Akira to look away from, to blink, even for a second.

Another bite, and Akechi was close enough that Akira could feel the heat of his skin, smell the tang of his sweat, hear the slightest, barest growl coming from somewhere in the detective's throat. He bit again, and the only thing Akira could feel was the burning, almost ticklish brush of Akechi's lips, jsut barely touching his, less than a centimeter away-

-the fire burned brighter still- Akira flinched, just for an instant-

-and somehow, Akechi shifted the grip of his teeth on the biscuit- light enough not to break it, but firm enough to control it- and used Akira's split-second lapse in concentration to twist and tug fee what little of the pocky was still between Akira's lips and teeth. Akechi pulled the snack into his own mouth with a flick of his tongue, crunched it down into nothing.

Akechi took a step back as Akira tried desperately to recollect himself, and blithely swallowed the last bit of biscuit down. All traces of annoyance and fire gone, Akechi beamed softly at Akira, sing-songed "Thanks for the snack, Kurusu-kun! That was much more refreshing than I expected~"

With that said, Akechi tossed Akira a jaunty little wave, then turned and headed for his train- only a bare few seconds apparently having passed.

There was a rustling at Akira's side, and Morgana's head worked the Monabag's zipper open and popped through. "What the hell was that?" he asked, sounding lost.

" _...I have no fucking idea,_ " Akira muttered back hoarsely, still trying to pull himself together- though the more pieces of his mind he managed to slot back into place, the more Akira's hazy, overloaded brain reformed, solidified, heated up, a simmering, crackling, glowing pile of coals growing in his gut. "...but I'm gonna get him back."

\---

Not too many days later, Akira was adjusting his everyday blazer as he padded down Leblanc's stairs, ready to get started on his very full Sunday to-do list-

-only to stop at the foot of the stairs as he took in the cafe, devoid of all but two people; Boss, busy scrubbing pans at the sink in the back, and a familiar mop of stylishly-messy honey-brown hair sitting at the second seat from the right of the bar **.**

Curious, Akira padded silently towards Akechi, wondering why in the world he'd be here of all places, early on a Sunday morning- and finding his answer as soon as he was close enough to see the counter in front of the detective. Akechi had his usual mug of more-milk-than-coffee coffee, but more prominent was the wide plate in front of him, covered in a tall, heaping stack of pancakes, doused in syrup and powdered sugar and whipped cream and a generous dusting of what looked like cinnamon.

Akechi finally noticed Akira standing behind him as Akira ogled the absurdly decked-outflapjacks- though his reaction was so smooth and well-composed that Akira wondered if Akechi had known he was there from the beginning. "Good morning, Kurusu-kun," he greeted brightly, charming mask secure and tight on his face.

Akira nodded by way of response, then returned his attention to the pancakes. "Finally got Boss to make you some breakfast food, huh?"

"He didn't _get me_ to do anything," Sojiro grouched from the sink, shooting Akira a glare as he scrubbed. "Just trying out a new menu item is all..."

Akira smiled at the tsundere old man, then turned back to Akechi as the detective let out a light laugh. "He's right," he nodded, smiling widely. "I originally came in for a morning cup of coffee, but Sakura-san was kind en-"

"Boss."

"... _Boss_ was kind enough to put a plate down in front of me as I drank," Akechi continued, putting an almost imperceptible hint of snark on Sojrio's preferred nickname. "And a plate dressed to the nines with toppings, as you can see!"

He gestured to the mountain of batter and sugar, and Akira nodded, his brain having started to move again during that little exchange. "They look really good," he observed, adding just the littlest hint of envy to his tone- not that he needed to be that subtle, as his stomach growled noisily all of its own accord a second later.

Akechi laughed lightly, nodding. "They are," he agreed. "Absolutely delicious." He met Akira's gaze...

...and slowly, purposefully put down his fork, the slightest edge of a smirk thinning his genteel smile.

_Damn it..._ Akria cursed to himself, holding back a _tsk_ of his own this time. He had intended for Akechi to pleasantly offer Akira a bite, leaving an opening for Akira to steal the fork and eat it in some lewd, suggestive way, just enough to fluster Akechi like he'd gotten flustered back at the train station.

But of course the Detective Prince would have seen through such a flimsy, improvised plan. Akira felt that rocky burn of irritation in his gut grow a few notches hotter- then hotter still as Akechi somehow noticed how pissed off Akira was starting to feel, his smirk growing bigger, his lips stretching wider-

-Akira's eyes caught on something, the coals flared hotter-

-instinct propelling him, the same instinct that had saved Akira's ass a dozen times over in the Metaverse, Akira leaned in close, reached forwards, rested the edge of his fingers under Akechi's chin, and fast enough so that Akechi didn't have time to pull away, slow enough so that he could relish the feeling, Akira deliberately dragged the pad of his thumb across the full, soft, plush length of Akechi's bottom lip...

...and scooped up the tiny blob of whipped creme that had gotten left behind there, after Akechi's last bite.

Akira straightened back up, bringing his thumb up to his face, looked at the whipped creme. His gaze darted back to Akechi for a second, the detective looking absolutely flabbergasted-

-and with a blank expression, Akira licked the whipped creme off, taking a second to taste it, then making certain his adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed it down.

"Tasty," he observed softly. He met Akechi's eyes again, the rest of the detective's face slowly growing redder and redder with each second. "You were right."

He hesitated only long enough to see Akechi's ears start to glow red, to see his expression crack with anger, and then Akira turned and headed out of the cafe.

_Your move, detective..._

\---

It took a week for the move to come- exactly a week, as it happened. The next Sunday, Akira was standing with his hands in his pockets in the underground mall, waiting in front of the aojiru stand-

"All ready for you, Kurusu-san!" the chipper woman running the place announced, and Akira turned, took his drink with a soft smile. Normally, he'd just chug the thing here and now, but with news of Kaneshiro's arrest buzzing around the city and his friends all worrying anxiously about the mysterious Alibaba, Akira had way too much to do today. He double-checked the lid and straw he had asked for, made sure they were secure, then turned to head back up the stairs towards Central Street, taking a sip as he turned-

-only to nearly run head-first into a very nice boy in a very seasonally-inappropriate sweatervest and dress shirt. "Ah, Kurusu-kun," Akechi beamed as Akira tried to regain his balance, the words and the cadence that Akechi spoke said his name with so familiar at this point that Akira was starting to suspect that Akechi had planned and rehearsed every encounter the two of them had since they first met. "How wonderful to see you again. Another busy Sunday?"

The smile on Akechi's face was bright and pure, and the aura he was radiating was downright murderous- Akira could almost see the bright red of how enemy shadows looked in his Third Eye bleeding into reality around the detective. This was definitely planned, Akechi was _definitely_ plotting something-

Too late, Akira realized that his straw was still hovering right by his lips, interrupted in the middle of a sip. He froze as he realized what was about to happen, tried to-

"Ah, a health drink of some sort?" Goro commented, only barely bothering to flick his eyes towards the sign on the aojiru stand, as if he hadn't been watching and waiting since Akira had placed his order. "How refreshing! May I?"

He asked it like a question, but before Akira could even try to answer, Akechi swooped in, leaning _way_ too close to Akira, reaching out with his tongue more than his lips to claim the straw, too fast for Akira to move away-

-too fast for him to warn Akechi what aojiru tasted like-

The moment that the healthy, hyper-vegetal, wretched green sludge hit Akechi's tongue was blindingly obvious, the detective's eyes flashing wide open and bugging out, his expression shifting in an instant from his usual calm, calculated, composed self to a street caricature of absolute disgust. He wrenched himself away from the cup, wretching and coughing, doubled-over in what looked like agony.

_...damn but he has a sensitive palate, huh?_ Akira wondered distantly as he watched the display. Well, he only passively watched for a moment or two- he didn't want to create a scene here, especially one that might draw any of Akechi's fans to them, so he moved as close as he could to his rival, masking as much of him as he could from public view.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for Akechi to recover, but when he did, he had an incredulous, furious expression on. " _What the_ _ **hell**_ _was that?"_ he demanded, pointing a shaking, accusatory finger at the cup.

"Aojiru," Akira answered simply, lifting the cup to his lips and taking a long sip, fighting harder than he'd fought Kaneshiro's shadow to remain expressionless and impassive as he drank.

The wide-eyed, horrified look Akechi gave him made all the effort worth it. Akira swallowed the sip he'd taken, gestured with the cup. "It sucks," he said simply, as if that explained everything.

"Wh... h..." Akechi sputtered a bit, then closed his eyes, took a deep, long breath through his nose, and straightened up, summoning up as much composure as he could manage right now. " _How_ do you manage to stomach that... _**slurry?!**_ " He asked, calmer but still a little unhinged. "Much less drink the entire thing- you've got enough there to be casually taking _sips_ for the entire afternoon!"

"Practice," Akira explained with a shrug. Akechi... he still looked baffled, but there was something else in his expression too, something flickering on the edges that Akira couldn't quite put a name to.

A snort from Akira's left distracted Akira before he could think about it too deeply anyways. Or rather, the snort made Akira panic so much that all other thoughts fled his mind, considering that it was  _absolutely_ loud  enough for Akechi to hear it, considering Akira had gotten so close to him while trying to shield the detective from view.  Akechi's eyes grew wide too, freezing in place in the middle of bringing a hand to his face.

The only one who didn't seem to realize it was, unfortunately, Morgana. "I can't believe _this_ is all it takes to make the great Detective Prince lost for words..." the not-a-cat snarked, and oh boy Akechi was putting in a _whole_ lot of effort to not have any reaction to Morgana's words, caught off-guard as he was. To be fair, Akira wasn't having a much better time of it- he knew from Akechi's slip-up back at the TV station that he could hear Morgana talking (and everything else that implied...). He suspected that Akechi knew that Akira knew, too, and so he'd had made sure to practice as hard as he could at maintaining an expressionless, impassive façade whenever Morgana spoke.

B ut  _damn_ that aojiru taste was still lingering in his fucking mouth, and Akechi's vain attempts to control his expressions as Morgana shit-talked him were distracting as all hell, it was all Akira could to to not outright grimace -

-and Morgana was  _still talking._ "I bet the sort of stuff this guy gets up to would make Akechi's head  _spin_ ," Morgana went on, tone smug and unreasonably confident. "Chugging that gross stuff is nothing compared to testing that punk doctor's homemade medicines, or running errands for an ex-yakuza- not to mention all the hours we've spent training in Mementos recently. Heh," Akira could imagine Morgana putting his little paws on his hips and cocking his head back like a tool- from the very large twitch at the corner of Akechi's lips,  _he_ could imagine it too. "I bet pretty-boy here wouldn't  _believe_ the crazy stuff you get up to, Aki _ohmygod he can hear me oh no..._ "

...Morgana shut up after that. After a few tense seconds, Akira and Akechi exchanged equally uncomfortable looks, awkward little smiles.

Since Morgana was _his_ roommate, Akira felt like he had to be the one to break the ice. "The aojiru is supposed to significantly boost different aspects of your health," he explained, and Akechi started to shift from tense to intrigued, so it seemed like the right move. "Helps your brain, or your skin, your reaction time or your physical and mental endurance, that sort of stuff. I, uh... came to this city with pretty much less than nothing, no skills or ways to make connections with people... and I was always pretty sub-par when it came to taking care of my body back home, so..." he shrugged, and Akechi nodded understandingly. "It does seem to work, from what I've been able to tell, so it's worth the shitty taste in the end."

Akechi brought a hand to his face as he continued to nod, propping it under his chin in that pose he sometimes made on TV- a more genuine habit than Akira had suspected, it turned out. He posed like that, pondering for a good minute or so, then piped up, seemingly at random. "...are you aware, Kurusu-kun, that one of my most notable features, according to my fanbase online, is my incredibly smooth, soft-looking skin?"

"Uh," Akira replied, which was really the only thing you could say to something like that. "I guess? Your skin _is_ really pretty, so..."

Akira felt his ears get hot as he realized what he said, but Akechi's did too, so it was probably okay, or something. Fuck. Akechi just cleared his throat and continued. "As it happens, I started growing facial hair quite early into my teenage years. An early bloomer, in a quite literal sense, I suppose. However, I knew I'd need to appeal to my generation if I were to become the successor to the title of Detective Prince, especially considering Shirogane-san's famously stellar looks, and a haggard teen detective with a peach-fuzz five-o-clock shadow most certainly would not do the trick. So..."

...Akira started to feel a creeping despair as Akechi wound his way towards his point. "...oh no..."

Akechi's expression shifted from contemplative to a sharp, almost conspiratorial grin. "Naturally I can't be seen going to the barber's or a laser hair removal specialist frequently- nor could I afford such habits when I was first starting out. What  _was_ surprisingly affordable however, were _home waxing kits._ "

There was a groan from the monabag, one that Akira echoed. "The price of fame, I guess..." he sighed, his cheeks hurting just imagining what Akechi had gone through. "And you have to do that regularly?"

"Facial hair waxing only works for two or so weeks, at the speed mine tends to grow in," Akechi explained, and Akira winced again. "But, as you said, we do what we have to in order for society to accept us- or at least, in order to manipulate society to treat us in the ways we require."

"Yeah..." Akira agreed, smiling a little ruefully. "Kinda dumb to go through all of that just so people will look at you in a certain way... not that we get any choice in the matter, but..."

Akechi nodded emphatically, chuckling. "No, you're right, it's patently absurd. I've had to engage in that frivolous show of manners and masks more  in these past few years  than most  _ever_ have to in their lifetime. A s much as  that's allowed me to become an expert in structuring my appearance and attitude exactly how I wish it to be, even I think it's a load of horseshit. " His dry grin took on a bit of a sneer, and he sighed, shook his head. " Horseshit and  ultimately pointless , in a way . It isn't as if people's opinions of you change for  _good_ ,  no matter how much you do to suit their tastes. It's always another  coat of paint, a different style of dress, a new manner of speaking, always  _something-_ "

_"Exactly!"_ Akira agreed- then flinched, when he realized just how loudly and how emphatically he had agreed. He took a deep breath through his nose to try and get himself back under control, but while he had gotten a few stares from the passers-by for the outburst, Akechi's expression seemed to only grow more... respectful, frankly. "Uhm, but yeah, that's... the worst part about it all, to me at least..." Akira continued, closer to his typical volume and tone now. "People ask for  _so much_ _,_ just to be able to get their attention, even a little bit, and it's never enough.  _You're_ never enough, unless you're always bending yourself into whatever weird, funhouse-mirror shape they  want you to be in , every time you're around them."

"More like bending into that shape, and  _also_ juggling however many bowling pins or knives or chainsaws or whatever  the hell they want to see you juggle that day," Akechi snarked, sounding both significantly different than he usually did, and yet also just more  _Akechi-like_ than he usually did, whatever that meant. 

Either way, he was right- depressingly so. Akira sighed ,  let his gaze drift across the crowd of people bustling around the two of them. "Makes me wonder if there's anybody out there who'd ever give a shit about who I am without all the masks and bending around and crap like that..." His grimace grew, cheek pulling back as far as it could go. "Or if I'm really just not an interesting person, deep down. If I'll only ever be able to exist around other people while I'm acting like somebody else 's idea of who I oughta be ."

There was a soft little laugh from Akechi- not directed at Akira in a mean way, not from how it sounded at least. When Akira looked back at the detective, he had a remarkably pure smile on, a stunningly warm look in his eyes- he looked almost like a totally different person, like a rough, weather-beaten version of his normal self, unveiled after sloughing off all the makeup and pretension. He shot a smile towards Akira, shrugged. "At the very least, there's one person who thinks you're... very enjoyable, Kurusu-kun. Mask on or off."

A smile tugged at Akira's lips too, and he nodded back. "Same here, Akechi."

The detective's smile grew- then shifted a little, tilted as a thought seemed to occur to him. "...Goro," he said suddenly, simply.

Akira frowned in confusion at first- then the gears clicked into place, and he smiled even wider than before. "Goro, then. You should call me Akira, too."

Goro smiled, nodded, and they stayed standing like that for a little bit, Akira feeling the most comfortable he had ever felt holding eye contact with somebody, like he could stay and stand like this forever, and the only part of him that'd get tired would be his legs.

A rush of boldness flowed through Akira's veins, and taking a risk, he asked Goro, "...you mind if I send you texts more frequently?" He asked, a little surprised and impressed at how little nervousness there was in his voice. "You've had to initiate most of the times we've hung out so far, in one way or another, and I-" Akira's nerve faltered for a moment, but Goro's expression was starting to look genuinely surprised and pleased, and that bolstered him back up enough to finish. "I want to spend more time with you."

"...I'd like that, Akira." Goro nodded, his voice gentle, his smile the same. "Very much so, I think."

Akira nodded, a warm, wonderful energy, more than he had felt in years flooding into his heart and his chest and his face as he beamed back at the detective- at his friend. "Great!"

There was something else in his heart too, something more than just happiness, than comfort and light. Akira had felt hints of it before, little sparks and flutters here and there, but this time... 

...this time, as Goro seemed to glow brighter too, that other something stirred and swirled inside Akira, made him start to wonder...

...to wonder if Goro might be able to become more than his friend, too.

\---

Another week passed, Akira feeling  better than he had in a long time all throughout, despite the growing threat of Medjed an d the more day-to-day dangers of Futaba's Palace . Even with all of that, texting with Goro more frequently, griping about the stuff that bothered him and listening to Goro gripe right back, learning how similarly they thought deep down, how much they liked the same bits of media and hated the same sorts of people, it made Akira feel... happy. Whole. More alive than he could ever remember feeling, even compared to the wild highs he'd experienced as a phantom thief.

It was almost enough to make Akira forget all of the stress and troubles he had to deal with. It was  _very, very_ close to enough to make Akira forget about the little competition of one-upsmanship he and Goro had going on, and that Goro was currently one point in the lead of .

Almost.

Early Saturday morning, knowing now that Goro could and often did get up pretty damn early on the weekends, Akira shot him a text asking the detective to come over to Leblanc and help him with something. Goro seemed intrigued, and as he made his way to Yongen-Jaya, Akira got busy.

By the time the bell over the door rang, Akira was already working up a sweat in Leblanc's kitchen, relinquished to him for the morning by a grumpy, but amused Sojiro, who was just as happy to stay at home and keep an eye on Futaba instead of manning the cafe. "I'm here, Akir- oh, there you are," Goro called out, and Akira heard him come closer, too focused on the tasks in front of him to turn around. "What are you doing over there?"

"Cooking... I hope..." Akira quipped back, keeping his stirring as steady and circular as he could manage.

He heard Goro sniff as he slipped past the counter to join Akira in the kitchen. "Is that... are you..." Goro walked up next to Akira' peering over his shoulder. "...are you making  _chocolates_ , Akira?"

"Mmhm," he nodded, still stirring as he added in more and more of the chopped-up chocolate to his pot.

"Why?"

"For Valentine's Day," Akira explained, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"...you're making Valentine's Day chocolate, in the middle of  _July_ ..." Goro summarized, tonelessly.

"That's the idea."

" _**Why????** _ "

Akira couldn't keep his straight face up anymore- he'd been having a hard time staying composed just texting with Goro recently, but hearing that scathing, utterly aghast distortion to his voice, in person- it was more than Akira could take. He let the spoon go, bent over in front of the stove, huffing out laughs and sounding like an idiot, he was certain, but somehow not feeling embarrassed about it. Goro started chuckling too after a bit, though his laughter sounded more along the lines of a bemused, _'look at this idiot over here...'_ kind of amusement than anything else. It still make Akira happy to hear.

When he'd managed to recover, at least enough to talk, Akira straightened back up, brushed his apron down, and went back to stirring as he spoke to Goro. "I've, uh, never really had any reason to make Valentine's Day chocolate before. Didn't have anybody to give it to earlier this year... or any year before that, for that matter."

Goro snickered a little meanly at that, but Akira had a pretty strong feeling that Goro was in the same boat there, so he didn't mind that much. Besides, he knew exactly how Goro was going to react to what he was going to say next.

He turned, just a little, to look Goro's way over his shoulder, felt a warm, cheerful smile come to him without having to summon it up in the least, and finished simply "But now I do."

Just as expected, Goro's eyes got all big again, his cheeks pink and his lips parted, extremely cute and unguarded and innocent and a little silly-looking... fuck, Akira could look at that face for the rest of his life and not get tired of it.

(Dream ing of exactly that was  _also_ a reason why this last week had been an especially good one)

"...so," Akira said, after the silence had gone on a bit too long, Goro's brain clearly having blue-screened and had to hard-boot back up again. The detective jolted as Akira spoke again, and Akira felt his smile grow wider. "Wanna help me prep the chocolate molds and stuff?"

He heard Goro snort, felt a not-too-gentle shove to his arm, and Goro drawled back "Only if you wipe that shit-eating smirk off of your face."

Akira barked out a laugh, shook his head and shot back "Try making me less happy, then."

Goro's face flared up again, and he growled out cutely, "Oh, shut the fuck up."

More laughter filled Leblanc, and bubbled up as often as the chocolate itself did as Akira and Goro went to work. It turned out that Akira had been following a pretty out-of-date  recipe , and had very nearly ruined the whole batch, but thanks to some very smoothly-executed improv work  on Goro's part and the advice of some videos online , they managed to save the day. While the chocolate cooled in its molds, Akira made them both a quick cup of coffee, and they chatted about meaningless stuff- a show Goro had encouraged Akira to try out earlier that week, a retro game Akira had gotten Goro to download the ROM of, that sort of thing.

Goro was in the middle of finishing off the last of his coffee when the alarm for the chocolate went off, and Akira rushed over to check on it. A few hesitant taps and thwacks to the molds, and sure enough, the chocolate came out just fine. Not perfect, it wasn't quite as shiny or firm as Akira imagined it being, but it was good enough for what he  wa s planning.

He heard Goro get up, and quickly got everything ready, heart pounding in his chest with sudden nerves- he was kind of risking everything with this move, but he had a really good feeling about it, and Goro had a remarkable way of emboldening Akria way past his typical limits. "How does it look?" Goro asked as he approached, and with a final deep breath through his nose, Akira turned around.

Around the chocolate he had gripped between his teeth, half of it sticking out, Akira replied "See for yourself~" It was hard to sound flirty saying that while holding his lips and teeth open like that- hell, it was hard to say it intelligibly at all...

...but Goro got that look on his face again, only much more blushy this time, and Akira knew he had hit a home run. The detective sputtered a little, clearly not expecting this in the least, but his eyes met Akira 's , and somehow that seemed to be enough to calm him down. His nervous exasperation melted away into a big, bemused smile, and he shook his head, just slightly. " _Idiot..._ "

Akira was still thinking of a response when Goro crossed the few feet between them and pressed his lips to Akira's- biting off half of the chocolate as he did so. Akria was so impressed by the dexterity Goro would have needed to do both of those at the same time that he almost forgot to kiss Goro back, as the detective's arms settled around Akira's waist, as Akira felt his own instinctively circle around Goro's neck, his fingers tangling themselves in Goro's long, soft hair, the heat of Goro's body melting against Akira in exactly the way he had imagined, feeling just as perfect as he knew it would, as he knew it always would no matter how many times they'd kiss like this.

He almost forgot. But not quite.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Vday! A day late! But whatever! It's not a real holiday anyways! No holidays are "real"! Time is an illusion!
> 
> Yeah! Woo! Ya-ha-ha-ha!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Title is from Janelle Monae's song of the same name. This fic doesn't really have anything to do with robot stuff, so it doesn't super apply, but man I don't know any friggin' songs with biting-related lyrics. I need to get out more.  
> Anyways!
> 
> I remembered that Valentine's day was coming soon about 3 days ago, and half on a wild impulse, half because I did a vday fic last year and wanted to keep at least some traditions going around here, I wrote this in like 2.5 days! Woof! I made sure to only have it be a short fic, but then it ended up being like 6k words, sooooooooooo, whoops! Tiger can only change his stripes so much, eh?
> 
> There's a number of parts here that I'd normally spend much more time reworking and rewording, but my brain is totally drained and this is already a day late going up, so it is how it is! I might go back and clean bits of this up one day, maybe maybe not, we'll see.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the fluff and good vibes at any rate! If you did, and you'd like to keep up-to-date on my writing, or just want to hear me blab about random AUs starring characters I barely know for like an hour at a time, my Twitter is [ @SevventhSteen! ](https://twitter.com/SevventhSteen)
> 
> Hope your Vday was at least a little bit fun, or if nothing else full of some bangin shuake fan art!!! Stay warm, stay safe, stay as gay as you can possibly be, and see y'all soon! X}D


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